IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2016 - 47

380 Vdc

electricity. Low-voltage dc (LVdc) and
its associated technologies offer the
ac Grid
potential to deliver safe, efficient,
415 V, 50 Hz,
and green electricity to many of them.
3 φ, 200 A Vac
In India, a draft LVdc standard of 48 V
380 Vdc
approved by the Bureau of Indian
Battery Charger
Standards (BIS) is being finalized
for implementation [8]. Some 4,000
dc Appliances
- Fans
homes already have 48-Vdc electricity
- Air Conditioners
infrastructure deployed [6]. A 380-Vdc
- Refrigerators
- Lights
standard is currently being developed
ac Appliances
by BIS for deployment in large buildLVdc Loads
ings and communities.
- Computers
HVdc Loads
- Communication Equipment
- Computer Server
Coal, which currently provides the
- Other Loads
- EV Charger
largest share of energy for world electricity generation in the International
Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO2016) ref- FIG 7 The proposed scalable dc power system for green sustainable buildings and
communities in India.
erence case (see Figure 8), declines
from 40% of total generation in 2012
to 29% in 2040 [9]. In addition, if the U.S. Clean Power Plan
40
(CPP) were included in the projections, the coal share of
world generation would be 28% in 2040. The liquid fuels
share of total generation also falls in the IEO2016 reference
30
case, as other fuels are substituted for higher-priced liquids
in the power generation sector. The liquids share of total
20
generation falls from 5% in 2012 to less than 2% in 2040. Natural gas and renewable energy sources account for increasing shares of total generation, with the natural gas share
10
growing from 22% in 2012 to 28% in 2040 and the renewable
share growing from 22% in 2012 to 29% in 2040. If the U.S.
CPP were included, the renewable share of world genera0
tion would increase to 30% in 2040.
2012
2020
2025
2030
2035
2040
The IEO2016 reference case also projects significant
Renewables
Natural Gas
growth in worldwide energy demand over the 28-year
Nuclear
Coal
period from 2012 to 2040 [9]. Total world consumpLiquids
tion of marketed energy expands from 549 quadrillion
British thermal units (BTUs) in 2012 to 629 quadrillion
FIG 8 The world net electricity generation by energy source,
BTUs in 2020 and to 815 quadrillion BTUs in 2040-
2012-2040 [9].
a 48% increase from 2012 to 2040 (see Figure 9). The
IEO2016 reference case assumes known technologies and technological and demographic trends, generally
reflects the effects of current policies, and does not anticiHistory
Projections
1,000
pate new policies that have not been announced. As can be
Non-OECD
OECD
seen from Figure 9, some 83% growth is projected for elec800
tricity consumption in Asia, of which China and India represent major consumers due to increased human activities
600
and population growth.
A decentralized low-cost clean energy infrastructure
400
with high energy efficiency is the key to address this problem. The overall energy efficiency may be further increased
200
by replacing the conventional silicon-based power converters with more efficient wide-bandgap (WBG) power
0
converters [10] (see Figure 10). The state-of-the-art single1990 2000
2012
2020
2030 2040
chip silicon insulated gate bipolar transistors are rated to
handle up to 8 kV in the blocking state and can conduct
FIG 9 The non-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Devela maximum current density of about 150 A/cm2 at room
opment (OECD) energy consumption by region, 1990-2040 [10].
December 2016

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2016